Icy Grip
by Aerial Spinner
Summary: Wandering into an icy cavern, the team is ambushed by an old 'friend'. Now they each are forced to face thier worst nightmares... My first story...be nice...


Evan- My first fanfic… Okay… I'm suppose to say something right… so umm go ahead and read… Oh wait!

I DO NOT OWN GOLDEN SUN! GOLDEN SUN BELONGS TO CAMELOT!

Enjoy the fic…

'_Ice everywhere… _Mia trudged behind her companions, staring at the slippery ice-covered ground. _'I can't help but feel nervous in here… Is that a bad sign?' _From the moment they had entered the Alter Cove, she had been feeling nervous. This morning, as they had prepared to leave the inn, Piers had told them a rumor he heard that in this cave there came a strange wind that froze everything near the entrance on a nightly basis. So now they were here to check things out…

May slowed to a stop, and the party moved on with out her. _'I felt this way before… like I was about to face something I never wanted to… Where was it? Where have I felt this before?' _

"Mia, could you try and keep up? It'll be easy to lose each other in here…"

Mia gasped and looked up at Isaac, who had turned to retrieve her. The rest of her friends looked back at her curiously. "Is something wrong, back there?" Jenna asked from the lead, where she held her staff up to light the way with her fire psyenergy.

"I was thinking… this place… It makes me…" Mia shook her head. "Never mind… I'm sorry, let's keep going…"

"Don't apologize, Mia." Ivan walked besides her as they headed on again. "If it makes you feel any better, this cave bothers me too."

Mia looked over at him sharply. "Have you been-?"

"Reading minds? Nope… After being around all of you for so long, I can tell what you guys think without having to use Psyenergy…"

"Are you sure, we're **_all_** that predictable?" Sheba cut in.

"Well you're not, Sheba. You're always something new every day…" Felix said.

"Well, thank you. Felix."

Jenna giggled. "He's right. You always find a new way to be annoying!"

"Now Jenna… There's no need to be hypocritical, now…" Piers said softly.

Jenna looked back at him with a cold stare. "Are you saying I'm annoying too?"

Felix sighed miserably "Let's not start that this early… Every day is the same…"

"That's true. " Garet added. "Someone insults Jenna, and then it's always 'Call Mia! Jenna burned someone up again!'"

"Is that, so?" Jenna's eyes twitched. "Mia, I think you're going to have an early patient today…"

Garet chuckled nervously. "Come on, Jenna… you don't really mean that, right?"

"You should know by now that I always say- huh?" Jenna's threat was cut off as a gust of cold air buffeted them, extinguishing the flame that lit her rod.

"What's going on?" Felix shouted as the passage was engulfed in darkness.

"You'll find out in a moment…" A calm voice, charming and sinister at the same time, pierced through the air.

"That voice!" Mia's breath stopped. "Not…not you…"

"I see you remember me still, Mia." The voice laughed as the darkness thinned out.

Somehow, they had all been transported to a new room. Everything was covered in ice, light reflecting onto light so that the entire room was lit without torches or candles. The frost spread out in a wave pattern, distorting their reflections. Icicles erupted from each corner and tiny frost prisms formed two neat rows that formed a path leading the way to the front. Steps lead up a small platform on which lay a solidly crafted throne, all carved from ice. And on the throne, laid-back with a dismissive, un-interested smile, sat…

"Alex!" All eight adepts shouted in unison.

"Good morning to you all, too…" Alex said.

Immediately everyone got into formation. Felix, Garet and Piers stood in front with their swords drawn, blocking the rest of the team. Jenna stood directly behind them, her hands already burning with a psyenergetic red light. Sheba and Ivan stood on either side of her, each one concentrating their gaze on Alex, ready to strike him down with wind and lightning. Mia retreated, her back to the wall. Isaac moved in front of her.

"So quick to attack…" Alex said. "I was hoping we could all catch up before I had to kill you… But I guess it's not going to be that way…" He got up and immediately ice rose from the ground and melted into water which surrounded him in two small streams.

"Enough Alex! You got some nerve showing your face!" Felix shouted.

"Oh my, aren't we bitter! It wouldn't kill you to cool off a bit… I just want to talk to all of you… Well, My little Mia in particular…" He walked down from the throne. "Hello again my dear…"

"Leave Mia alone!" Garet's swords began blazing. "You've done enough to her as it is!"

Alex ignored him. "Mia, you still surround yourself with weaklings… I thought you might have wised up by now…"

Mia swallowed and regained her voice. "They aren't weaklings, they are my friends. And that's more than I could ever say for you!"

Alex chuckled and shook his head. "Very sad, Mia. I guess I'll have to destroy you as well… Maybe I'll let you go first…"

"If anyone is going to die today, it's going to be you!"

Alex's eyes burned for a moment, then froze over again. "I was going to make you death quick, you know, let you die painlessly so you wouldn't see anyone suffer … but now I'll think I'll let you outlive your 'friends'. Just so I can see you suffer… You are quite attractive when your heart is broken…"

"You sick bastard…" Jenna murmured under her breath…

"That's enough out of you!" Felix snapped. "Everyone get ready! Attack all together!"

"Fools… you'll regret trying to defy me…!"

The entire team jumped into action.

"That that! Spark Plasma!" Sheba raised her staff into the air.

"Tempest!" Ivan shouted. Both spells combined, Ivan's tornado tore through the air, mixing with the lightning spouting from the air above Sheba.

"Dragon Fume!" Jenna manipulated the flames that sprang forth, forming the head of a dragon.

"Heat Wave!" Garet's sword struck the ground, and a row of fire flashed across the ice.

"Grand Gaia!" Isaac and Felix used the same move at once, and the ground cracked open and energy spewed forth underneath Alex.

"Hail Prism!" Mia shouted. Blocks of ice tore from the ceiling and crashed at the target.

"Cutting Edge!" Piers lunged froth with his sword and a singles wave of sharp ice sped forth.

The attacks all hit Alex dead on, each one colliding with the other until they all blinded the entire room.

"Did we get him!" Sheba asked as the blast began to fade away.

Isaac nodded. "Of course! Who could survive all of that!"

"Apparently me…" The debris and smoke cleared, revealing Alex, still standing there with out a scratch. "Apparently you all aren't as strong as I thought…" He brushed his shoulder off and smiled. "A weak attack, but an attack delivered with style… Now I'll show you mine!" Alex spread his arms out, and thrust forward. "Behold, this is true power!" His hands flashed briefly in dark-blue light, faded, then nothing…

"What's he talking about? Nothing's happening… huh!" Garet stopped in mid sentence. Ice had erupted in a strange circle around him and sprang up, trapping him in a dome.

"Garet! Hold on, I'll get you out!" Jenna began streaming a flame from her hands, but the icy ground gave her the same treatment. One by one, each of the adepts were trapped in the frost domes. The only one left was Mia.

"What did you do to them!" Mia shouted. She immediately began smashing her staff against Pier's dome, his being the closest.

"Don't bother, girl!" Alex shouted. A string of water flew towards her, freezing as it went. Mia was thrown against the wall, and the ice stream froze to the wall like a chain.

"Stay still, I might cut you…!" Alex scolded. Three more streams flew at her, trapping her legs and hands. Mia dropped her staff to the floor.

"Let me go!" Mia shouted. "Ice Missile!" she shouted, but nothing happened. She gritted her teeth and concentrated until her head hurt.

Alex laughed at her attempt. "Those rings block your psyenergy, so I'd stop if I were you. You'll just give yourself a head ache."

Isaac shouted something, but his voice didn't carry out beyond the ice. He slammed his swords against the ice barrier. Each of the others did the same, some with weapons, others with psyenergy, but none managed to make a crack or dent.

"Don't bother struggling…" Alex said simply. "Those domes won't break easily whether you attack them with rocks or wind or ice. Not even fire will melt them" he said tapping on Jenna's dome, where nothing but bellowing flames could be seen.

"Now, how to kill you all?" Alex pondered aloud and began pacing around. He put a hand on Sheba's dome. Inside she was casting Astrial Blast, was slamming her staff against the ice, purple stars blasting out against the ice. "Perhaps I could crush you in your very own little prisons?" The dome began shrinking, and Sheba began pushing against it in panic.

"NO! Alex, leave them alone!" Mia shouted. She continued to struggle.

"You're right…" The dome stopped shrinking. "That would be too messy…" Alex said, moving on to where Ivan and Jenna's domes almost interlocked together. Both were surrounding themselves in their psyenergy, wind slashing in Ivan's and flames cutting inside Jenna's.

"Perhaps suffocation?" Alex snapped and the two adepts fell to their knees, coughing and wheezing soundlessly…

"Don't!" Mia shouted.

"Ahh, of course! That would be too boring!" Alex said. Ivan and Jenna stopped struggling and began breathing heavily. "Perhaps I'll have to kill them in the worst of ways…"

"You're not going to hurt them in any way!" Mia pulled at her shackles until the ice dug into her skin and began drawing blood.

"Such brave words, Mia…" Alex complemented. "Oh, I know what to do!"

"Alex!"

"Accept the death that comes with nightmares... Hah!" He reach for the ceiling and a black disk formed in his hands. It spread quickly and passed through the entire room before disappearing.

"What are you doing!" Mia shouted, but she was answered almost immediately.

Ivan was the first to collapse. He fell to the knees, trembling and screaming, hands clamped against his ears. "NO! That's not true!" he wailed. "Stop it… MAKE IT STOP!"

In the next dome, Sheba began trembling violently. She leaned against the icy wall and tears began streaming down her face. "Why… why would you leave me…?" she sighed.

"Don't hate me!" Felix shouted. He seemed to be begging somebody for something. "I didn't mean it! Jenna don't hate me…please!"

"No… Please don't be dead! Come back!" Jenna was screaming and crying, crawling along the ground in despair.

Garet was trying to drown somebody out. "I did help… I did! Shut up!"

Isaac was sitting on the ground, hugging his knees, his face buried in his arms. "Please… not you too… Come back…"

Piers was sitting with his back to the wall. "I'm all alone… They're all gone…" he chanted over and over again…

Mia heart stopped beating , then began pounding in her chest. "What are you doing to them!" She screamed.

Alex smiled. "They are facing their worst nightmares… And I'm going to let you in, just so you can suffer…" he turned and faced her. "Come my dear, we have many nightmares to visit."

"No…no…don't touch me!" Mia struggled, but Alex put a palm to her forehead.

"NO!" Mia screamed as she was flung into darkness. She then found herself standing in a very familiar city.

"Where… am I?" she asked.

"We are in the nightmare of one of your friends…" Alex said. He pointed away. "There he is, he can't see you of course… but at this point I think he has other things on the mind…"

Mia almost cried as she saw the scene before her. "Why are you showing him that!" she moaned. "We would never do that to him…"

Evan- There it goes…Should I kill it or keep going… I really don't want to keep going if it's bad… And umm… Can I please not get a flame? I'm not sure what they are… but they don't sound good... R&R please


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